Roving and Top: Gray and Blue

Maybe it is the return of warmer weather, but I have been on a spinning kick recently. Very little knitting getting done, but plenty of spinning. Along with the  project on my spindle that I showed you last week, I have also started an easy project on my Ashford wheel.

My newest project: thick merino. (The colors are totally off though)

Last year I bought some dyed merino top at Maryland Sheep and Wool festival. It was an incredibly good price, and it's one of those fibers that you have to use at least sometimes: super-duper soft and fluffy, great for garments. However, because it is so fine, it doesn't wear very well, or so I have heard.

The history of merino sheep is actually pretty neat. In the 18th and early 19th Centuries, all merinos were owned by the Spanish crown. To sell a sheep to anyone else was considered treason and the punishment was death. In the 19th Century, they gradually loosened the restrictions, and they are pretty ubiquitous today.

I haven't decided what I am going to do with this yarn yet, but it is going to be a thick two ply yarn, with one skein of blue and one of black.

Merino top from Delly's Delights Farm in Louisa, VA. This is closer to what the color actually looks like

Same as above, in black.

In other fiber news, I learned a useful skill.

Because I might be teaching more spinning in the future, I decided to get some ugly, cheap "learning" wool that I can give to students. I got two pounds of this:

4 oz. of "domestic gray wool" roving from The Woolery.

I didn't want white wool, because it is hard to see the twist, so I think this gray stuff is just about perfect. Has some neps (little bits of broken fiber) and is a bit dirty (with a very "sheepy" smell). But t is quite soft, and the color is nice, if boring.

The main question was how to store all of that wool. It came in bags, but just stuffed in there - recipe for tangles.

Some of it I wound into balls, just like I would do with yarn.

4 oz. roving ball (and Sandy, looking for attention)

But I had also seen roving braided, and wanted to try. It looks better than the ball, gets more air, and I think is a bit more compact.

The first thing to know about the braiding is that it isn't a brain, it is a crochet chain. That means that if you want to get the wool, you just have to tug, and it will come undone. The second thing to know is that I am pretty sure the other braids I have seen were only two ounces, because my braid was something like 6 feet long. It think I got the hang of it though.

What do you think?

"braid" of roving: closeup.

Spinning Lesson

Last week, I had my first real spinning lesson!

Now, you may be wondering: why pay for a spinning lesson when you spin all the time?

The answer is that teaching yourself is great, but at some point, you need some sort of feedback. Am I holding the wool too tight? Is the way I do it ok? Are my hands right?

There are, of course, lots of ways to spin (and knit). Everyone tends to find their own comfortable positioning and movements. For instance, I use my pinky a lot in controlling the movement of my knitting needles, because it makes sense to me.

But I have taught knitting to people who were making things a lot harder than they had to be with their hand positions. Many beginners (and not-so beginners) grip the needles so hard that they have less control. Sometimes, this is because they are holding the needles too far from the tips, which makes it harder for them to knit the way they want to. In an in-person lesson, I can see these small issues and make suggestions, until the person finds a new, better comfortable position for herself.

This is what I was hoping for - someone to look and say: you are doing this wrong (or right). Here is something small you can do to make your life easier.

So I went to my local fiber arts guild website and found a teacher (relatively) nearby. She was offering lessons for not-so-beginners: come and spin for two hours, bring your wheel or borrow one, and there will be an instructor to help you out and answer questions. Just what I was looking for.

So I drove up and took my secondary wheel.

View from the top, with flyer

View from the back of the wheel, with included cat butt

This wheel has never worked right. I bought it for cheap off of Craigslist. I oiled it up, and I got it spinning, but it broke in the spring. The problem with buying unbranded, vintage spinning wheels is that there are no spare parts, and you have to fix the problems yourself. I thought I had gotten in working (I oiled it, glued the crack in the foot pedal, and tightened the wheel's grip on the shaft) but when I took it to the farm, it just would not cooperate. The wheel would move, but only reluctantly. (I have since figured out what was wrong, but it took me awhile)

So I worked on a borrowed Ashford Traditional wheel. This is what I mostly use at home, so it was familiar. The lesson came with 4 oz. of roving, so I picked out a color that I liked in Blue Face Leicester wool roving, since everyone says it is a dream to spin.

BFL roving

I made a "novelty yarn" in those two hours.

Novelty yarn, in this context, means I tried lots of different techniques, including both short- and long-draw, drafting from the fold, and chain plying. I might make a weird hat out of all these funky yarns that I am making.

I finished up with a some leftover single, so my teacher used a ball winder to make a center-pull ball. I generally hate them for knitting, but I haven't tried them for spinning. But that is for another day.

Center pull ball, ready to make another "art" yarn